Automotive doors normally include sheet metal inner and outer door panels, an interior trim panel which faces into the passenger compartment, and various hardware situated between the panels. Conventionally, these components of the door have been assembled at the same time and place. To decrease the time and complexity of assembling the entire door, recent proposals have been made to construct some of the hardware as a unitary subassembly. This subassembly can then be joined with the remainder of the door at any given place and time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,629 to Kimura et al., for example, shows a door for a vehicle that is assembled by joining three modules together to facilitate the assembly process. U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,208 to Baldamus et al. shows an automobile door with a unit carrier on which built-in units, especially a complete window winder with window pane, can be preassembled. U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,842 to Basson et al. shows a modular trim panel unit with the preassembly of the interior trim panel for the door including one or more basic mechanical and/or electrical components.
However, it has remained a goal to develop a design which decreases the time and complexity of the automotive door assembly process.